Posted on 07/17/2008 5:10:32 AM PDT by Gamecock
Evangelical Christianity now offers heaven on the installment plan. Through a magical kind of faith we can take advantage of a spiritual lay-away plan. We can sell the gospel on a 90-day payment system. The future can be ours, now.
How does this legerdemain work? With the proper formula, the new magic brings the rabbit out of the hat without the use of mirrors. It is the “name it and claim it” gambit, a ploy that even Houdini failed to grasp. If we name it and claim it we can have heaven and all its benefits now. Before we die. Before Christ comes. Before the kingdom is consummated.
Recently I went to my orthopedic surgeon armed with the hope that somehow I could find relief from degenerative arthritis. He checked my knees, my shoulders, and my spine and concluded, “All you need is . . . a brand new body!” I thought to myself, “Where can I go to get a new body?” I almost said to my doctor, “You know, I have an appointment in heaven. When I get there I will receive a new body. A glorified body. A body with no arthritis. No bones spurs. No aching joints and creaking bones. My new body will be like Jesus’ resurrected body.”
Until then, however, I must endure the daily disintegration of the body I have. In heaven I will be able to walk to the first tee, take out a ball and club, and swing with a fluid motion without spending several minutes stretching and bending to limber up. In heaven (which surely has beautiful golf courses), I won’t have to carry a bottle of Absorbine Junior in by golf bag.
In the meantime I race the clock in this mortal body that seems unable defeat the curse of the Fall. I age. I ache. I move inexorably toward the graveyard where these arthritic bones will someday be laid to rest.
Every Christian who has lived on the earth for the first 1,800 years of Christian history has died. St. Augustine’s body wore out. Thomas Aquinas succumbed to disease. Martin Luther endured countless physical infirmities before he died. Calvin was stricken. Edwards was afflicted. None of the saints of history ever managed to “name it and claim it” until they got to heaven.
Some TV preachers offer the secret the saints all missed. They tell us that God always wills healing. Instant cures for all diseases, all sin, all poverty can be ours for the asking and the claiming. All we have to do is claim the promises. Buy now. Pay later.
They tell us that God never takes anyone’s life. He helplessly wrings his celestial hand while his faithless servants succumb to the ravages of Mother Nature. Mother Nature is nasty. She kills everybody. She is the most ruthless murderer of all time. She kills men, women, and children. She strikes with accidents, wars, and diseases. And Satan is her chief henchman. Nature coupled with the devil makes Murder, Inc. seem like a benevolent charity.
But, we hear, “healing is in the atonement.” And of curse it is. So is sanctification. The final result of our Lord’s atonement will be total freedom from sin and its consequences. In heaven we are promised no pain, no suffering, no death, no sin. God will wipe away our tears once and for all.
I remember the tender moments in my childhood when I scraped my knee and went bawling to my mother. I clutched her apron as she stooped over and kissed away my tears. Her touch on my cheeks ended my sobs.
Now, when my grandson gets hurt, he cries and says, “I need ice-cube.” A cold cube of ice on the sore spot makes everything better. Until the next time. Then another ice cube is required. I made many trips to my mother’s apron. She could stop my tears, but not forever. I still cry. My tears will not cease until God wipes them away in heaven. Then they will vanish. My tear ducts will find use only for the tears of ecstasy.
God promises me a new body. He guarantees a life without pain. But not now. Now he promises me the opposite. He tells me that in the world I will have tribulation. God promises no man freedom from pain and suffering in this world. There is no way to grasp heaven in advance. There is no “buy now, pay later” plan of salvation.
God promises us his presence in the midst of pain. He promises us his comfort. But until the last enemy is finally and fully destroyed, we must walk in faith. We have hope. We have the certainty of a glorious future. But there is no magic.
There is a reason why God forbids the consultation of wizards and fortunetellers. He abhors ungodly magic. We have a future. But it is not ours until the time he has appointed comes to pass. The wizards promise the future now. It is grasping at the promise of God before its time.
Faith without patience is an insult to the Lord of history. I’ll get my new body, but not yet.
Sententious stuff; but one thing that’s always irked me about Christianity is the widespread notion that the Almighty can be manipulated like some sort of natural phenomenon, simply by using the correct kind of incantation.
” I’ll get my new body, but not yet.”
I demand it right now. If I don’t get it, God will be sorry.
Exactly. All these people could have been healed, saved, etc... if only they had known the proper way to ask for it!
bttt!
Hold on, be strong
When all you've got is gone
I left the lights turned on in Paradise
Evidence of the fall. It is our nature to want to control everything. And it is our overwhelming arrogance to think we can.
There’s a 3 minute video at this link, wherein John Piper rightly destroys this
cancerous doctrine. He contrasts that lie with the Truth of who Jesus is and
exhorts us to look to and rest in Him alone.
I pray this video encourages - and convicts.
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/139-prosperity-teaching
“Sententious stuff; but one thing that’s always irked me about Christianity is the widespread notion that the Almighty can be manipulated like some sort of natural phenomenon, simply by using the correct kind of incantation.”
It’s not proper to say “Christianity” universally includes all these beliefs.
But your point is true. What these people will say is that they are not “manipulating” God, but that God has singled them out for healing. To you and I it’s a distinction without a difference, but not to them.
I am unfortunate enough to know about this false teaching within my own family. These folks are as stubborn as they are misguided.
and deception for filthy lucre
Go is not pleased with these charlatans of wickedness, who lead His children astray.
One day, many will say; “But Lord, in Your name, we...”
They will not be pleased, as they weep and gnash their teeth, hearing His angry reply, pronouncing them to be “workers of iniquity”.
Eternity sealed for them at that very moment.
But praise be to Him, for His long suffering mercy that He provides to even these, the chance to repent.
Thank you for this classic.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach AdonaiVery timely with the Todd Bentley show in Florida.
I believe you'll find it's only certain segments of Christianity who believe God can be manipulated. Look up the origin of the phrase "hocus pocus" and you'll see one such example. Look up the phrase "synergism" (the belief that people choose to be "saved" via an act of inviolable "free will") for others. The Reformation churches did/do not teach what you describe, however.
What a great article. It never ceases to leave me dumbfounded that the promise of Salvation is not enough for some Christians. Sheesh you are getting the greatest gift of all eternity and you want more?
I do believe in miracles but I believe in the sovereign wisdom of God. What we bear we bear for a reason. We can choose to make suffering an occassion of grace or of resentment and bitterness. But I know God is all good and He keeps His promises. So I will bear the twists of mortality.
**I do believe in miracles but I believe in the sovereign wisdom of God.**
Amen. God will do as He pleases. The problem wit this heresy is when God doesn’t perform miracles the tender reed gets crushed.
“I have experienced His touch in my health and in my finances and will never go back to the bad old days.”
I am happy for you that you were able to cash-in on your Christianity.
“I don’t subscribe to all of the so-called prosperity ministries but don’t throw out the baby with the bath water my friends”
Apparently you do subscribe to just such a thing, my friend.
“...because Christ paid the price and I am claiming those promises and seeking the Father daily and walking in His Word”
Yep, God owes you. That is exactly what this article railed against......the “Go fetch” attitude towards God.
“Try it, you’ll LOVE it.” ....I just have to remember to stay indoors during possible thunderstorms.
But hey, if it makes you happy, go right ahead and keep on keeping on. It’s not for me.
Amen, my Friend. You are right. God has prospered me more than I ever imagined. His grace has been sufficient through diabetes, dialysis, two heart attacks, living with an alcoholic for 25 years (which brought me to the Lord), etc., etc. As long as we live by his principles, He will continue to prosper us. Hallelujah. What a saviour!!!
I see no evidence of the humility that comes by grace in your post.
Can you show Scripturally your evidence for this statement? I thought that Christ died for the sins of mankind.
1Corithians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
Not that we could have "...health and abundance...".
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
You can choose to live a life of lack and disease if you wish but NOT me. I have experienced His touch in my health and in my finances and will never go back to the bad old days.
I too have experienced His "touch" and can never go back to the "bad old days". Not because of who I am or what I've done, but because of who He is and what He's done. Not necessarilly to my heath and finances, (even though I can complain of neither) but His touch to my soul. I was transformed from my own righteousness...
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
...to His righteousness...
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I believe that it's clear that we aren't to focus on and be conformed to the things of this world.
Say what you want but I am living proof that this life is for today not because I deserve it but because Christ paid the price and I am claiming those promises and seeking the Father daily and walking in His Word.
This life is for today? We "deserve" hell. And only by the saving grace of a Living God and the blood sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ will we not spend an eternity there.
If you want your "best life today" then go hear a motivational speech in Houston. But if you want life eternal with the lover of your soul, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
LS
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