I think the saddest indication of Christianity’s devolution is found in the criticism of the “Health and Wealth” Gospel.

I’ll never forget when it finally dawned on me that God was actually good. The concept was so simple, yet so infrequently preached in the denomination I grew up in. And, yet when I finally saw with spiritual eyes the length that God went to send Jesus, and the sacrifice he made to have me set free from the power of sin and death, the bible finally made sense. God was good, and he wanted me to have all the benefits Christ died for me to receive.

The simplest way to understand God’s desire for you to be well, whole and prospered is found in Romans 8:32. It reads,

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

This verse is so simple, yet so profound. Simply put, if God sent Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and Jesus was God’s most valuable and treasured possession, why wouldn’t he want us to have everything else, which is of far lesser value than Jesus? The answer is, he wouldn’t.

Now the problem with how the “Health and Wealth” Gospel is usually preached is that it comes across pretty manipulative, and actually takes people away from the power that’s found in the “good news.” The news about Jesus is so good, because it means that he earned everything that you and I could not. He paid the price for our sin. Ransomed us from death. Redeemed us from the curse of the Law, all so that we could get what he deserved.

But whenever anyone preaches a message that claims in order to get God’s favor, we must work for it, or earn it, or pay a tithe to get a blessing, well, that takes us straight out of the “good news,” and places us directly in the midst of the bad news of “You have to earn God’s blessings by what you do.”

Critics who are at least somewhat familiar with the Bible, would naturally take issue with this presentation of the “Health and Wealth” Gospel, because it is in effect “anti-Christ.” However, just because someone preaches a false doctrine of performance to get God’s blessing, does not mean that God doesn’t bless, or doesn’t want all people to be blessed.

God emphatically wants us to experience the fullness of his nature and presence in our lives, but we cannot earn his presence, or work to achieve his blessings. We must simply receive them the same way we receive everything from God – by grace through faith.

When it doesn’t seem like that formula is working, (aka, “I’m believing but nothing’s happening,) it’s precisely because we were trying to use God’s word as a formula, instead of utilizing his word to know him better and to fellowship with him deeper.

While God’s promises are made available to all, they can never be accessed from a position of lack. They can only be enjoyed on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ.