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The Law of Prosperity -- Don't Buy It!

By Paul Earnhart

Whatever your financial condition of the moment – even if, like the Children of Israel, you are in a financial wilderness or a state of financial dissatisfaction – you can be prosperous. You need not wait until “things get better” or until you “get out of debt” to begin living under the prosperity law of tithing.  (Sterling Rose Press, Inc.) 

You don’t have to look far to discover a belief among professed Christians that God works to make us physically rich. The idea is that if we “keep our part of the deal” – including regular, generous contributing – God will keep His part of the deal and produce capital for us from unexpected sources.  This is not a scriptural concept, and we should be careful not to absorb any of this belief. 

Those who belief in this law of prosperity focus their minds on the few righteous wealthy in scripture as examples of this law at work.  Abraham, for one, was a wealthy man, “very rich in livestock, silver and gold (Gen 13:2). Jacob also was blessed by God.  Many God-fearing people down through the years would be quick to credit God for giving them and abundance of wealth and blessings. 

Another example that is used to prove this “law of prosperity” is the nation of Israel. God told them, "So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do” (Deut 29:9). Clearly, it is true that as a nation, if they would keep God’s laws, they would be blessed (although “tithing” was only one small part of that covenant!). However, scriptures are clear that the righteous were not always wealthier than the wicked.  "For the rich men of the city are full of violence, Her residents speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth” (Malachi 6:12).

What people who believe in this spiritual law of prosperity don’t tell you is there have been many righteous people down through the years that never saw the financial capital that Abraham and Job had. There were people like Joseph and Mary who lived very humble lives. There were poor saints in Jerusalem, who were counting on the Gentile Christian to provide to them food (Romans 15:26).  The church in Smyrna was rich toward God but physically poor (Rev 2:9). Paul makes it clear there were few wealthy Christians in 1 Tim 6:17 by saying, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” 

There are unnumbered blessings available to those who would serve God, but they are not earthly blessings.  We will find these spiritual blessings “In Christ” (Eph 1:3). And we will have these spiritual blessings forever instead of only our short lifetimes. God truly will take care of us abundantly while on this earth (2 Cor 9:6-8). But be careful not to associate fortune with godliness and misfortune with wickedness. 

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