The Prosperity Gospel is ubiquitous. No religion, denomination, or culture is exempt. Here are twenty questions to test how much the Health and Wealth message has affected you. 

The answers are at the end of the article. I will elaborate on each question in forthcoming posts.

1a. “I can do all things through Christ” means there is no limit to what I can do.

1b. “I can do all things through Christ” means it is possible to be content in all circumstances.

 

2a. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” means our tongue has the power to destroy or build up others.

2b. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” means our words have the power to speak into existence that which I desire.

 

3a. In Scripture, the pastor is described as God’s anointed.

3b. In Scripture, the pastor is described as a servant, a slave, and a prisoner.

 

4a. Suffering is a tool God uses to bring greater blessing.

4b. Faith, not suffering, is a tool God uses to bring greater blessing.

 

5a. Becoming a Christian means you keep all the desires you had as an unbeliever only you get them from a new source, Jesus.

5b. Becoming a Christian means the desires of your old life change.

 

6a. It is often God’s will not to heal.

6b. It is always God’s will to heal.

 

7a. All suffering and sickness is the work of Satan.

7b. All suffering and sickness comes indirectly from the hand of God and often times directly.

8a. “By his wounds you have been healed” means that Christ paid for the forgiveness of our sins.

8b. “By his wounds you have been healed” means that Christ paid for the healing of our body as completely as he paid for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

9a. Blessings, breakthroughs, and deliverance often come immediately after following Christ for salvation.

9b. Pain, sickness, and suffering often come immediately after following Christ for salvation.

 

10a. Following God’s will means things may get far worse before they get better.

10b. Following God’s will means He will give you earthly blessings beyond what you can ask or think.

 

11a. God has promised to deliver us from all of our suffering here on earth if we will have faith in him.

11b. God has never promised to deliver us from all of our suffering here on earth.

 

12a. Suffering is often neither the result of sin or of a lack of faith.

12b. All suffering is a result of either sin or a lack of faith.

 

13a. Satan and a lack of faith—not Jesus—is behind the poverty in the world.

13b. The Lord causes some to be poor in order to test their faith.

 

14a. Scripture most often points to pride, laziness, corruption and the love of pleasure as the cause of poverty.

14b. Scripture most often points to Satan, demons, and a lack of faith as the cause of poverty.

 

15a. Jesus became poor in the eyes of man so that we can become rich in the eyes of man.

15b. Jesus became poor in the eyes of man so that we can become rich in the eyes of God.

 

16a. God is ultimately the author of all healing and sickness.

16b. God is not the author of sickness. He is the author of healing.

 

17a. “Salvation” in Scripture includes both the forgiveness of sins and freedom from sickness, disease and poverty.

17b. “Salvation” in Scripture means deliverance, and the context will tell us from what we are delivered.

 

18a. The suffering of God’s people is a sign that they are in fact true believers.

18b. The suffering of God’s people will hurt the cause of the gospel.

 

19a. “No weapon fashioned against you shall succeed” means nothing can stop success and blessings from coming your way.

19b. “No weapon fashioned against you shall succeed” means that in the end, God will defeat all of his enemies.

 

20a. If you want health or wealth, long for heaven and expect persecution on earth.

20b. If you want health or wealth, turn away from human cures and dependence on self and depend on Jesus instead.

* The correct answers are letter “b” for the odds and “a” for the evens.